I break down. Weeping for the man who loved me with every ounce of his heart. With every inch of his soul. For the person who took his last breath for me. The one who made his final sacrifice…for me. A stubborn girl whose insatiable curiosity ruined his plans. All because I will one day grow up to become the Malice of his heart.

“Alice?” Bandit sounds dazed. “He loved you very much.”

“He did,” I whisper, past the aching heart that sits in my chest, as useless as a broken toy. “He and Malice loved each other across timelines. No matter how they interfered with the past, they found each other every time. He said…” My voice falters, but I make myself try again. I need to make sure this boy, this Bandit, understands. “He said their love was an unshakable event in the universe.”

Bandit squares his shoulders and faces forward. “Then I’m okay being tied to this basketball pole. Whatever the results, if this was his last wish, it is my honor to fulfill it.”

My knees give out, and I fall. You’d think I’d feel lighter with this raw, open wound in my chest. But like a black hole, the emptiness sucks all the goodness from my life, all the happiness and joy, so that I’m pulled to the ground with a force stronger than gravity.

He was right. My future husband, when he was assessing how his younger self would react. Bandit doesn’t need to ask questions. He simply trusts—in his gut, in his instincts. It’s a sign of his steadiness, and it’s one of the reasons I love him. Him, the guy standing before me now, not the man he’ll become in the future.

I pick myself up just as Archie approaches to check the knots. Satisfied, my brother jabs me in the back with the gun, urging me forward. I lumber in the direction of his prods, my mind stunned and my heart numb.

“Tell you what,” Archie says, as if he’s come to a long and hard decision. “I think you’re being sincere. No matter what you feel for him, I think you do love me. I want you to be telling the truth, more than I’ve ever wanted anything, really. So I’m giving you the chance to prove it.”

He lifts the gun and offers it to me. I stare at the glinting metal of the barrel. “You’re…giving me your weapon?”

“If my older self is right, I’m not in any danger.” He licks his lips. “You weren’t able to kill me in order to save millions of people. In order to protect your own child. You’re not going to hurt me now.